Palace in the Clouds
by Ihaveforgotten
Summary: One shot. A server of the palace finds a depressed Loki and boldly talks sense into him. Has her words changed him at all, and if so, for better or for worse?


**Author's Note: I put a twist on the situations of the maids in Asgard, because I've seen them written as if they are disrespected. This is my first one shot, that I have posted anywhere, but all the same, I hope you enjoy. Please feel free to give me tips, advice, or simply your opinion. Thanks for reading!**

A lovely sunrise woke me on this average morning in Asgard. The stars glimmered outside of my window and were lit up even more by the waking sun. Everyone here stayed young and lived long. This has been my home for as long as I can remember. I quickly leaped out of bed, put my long hair in a bun, dressed, and made my way to my job.

I was a server of the people of the palace, I cleaned up after and took care of the two princes every other morning, when I wasn't doing my other duties as a server. My home realm, Midgard, was far from my mind this morning, but there, servers were said to often be treated badly by their masters. I couldn't imagine that, for here, most everyone respected servers. Most. I often wonder what it would be like growing up in Midgard, rather than here. There were always down sides to every job, along with upsides. This was the case with serving.

The halls of the palace glittered and shined in a brilliant gold, with intricate designs on the walls. It didn't matter how many times I passed through these halls, I always found them beautiful. I found myself at the meeting place for the servers, the place that each servant was given their duties throughout the day. Today, as directed, I wouldn't have to take care of Prince Thor, but I would have to scrub the ballroom floor. I would rather clean up Prince Thor's mess of a room than scrub the huge ballroom. Ugh..

Other than that dreadful swap, I would do everything on routine, unless something else to be done arose. I made my way down the long, golden hallways and to the first duty of my day, and it was often a bother. I arrived at Prince Loki's chambers, and gave the door a knock or two to make sure that he wasn't in his room. He could be a real pain, or as others say, an asshole. Other times, he was almost helpful and he did keep his room nice and tidy. There were two types of talk about Prince Loki. Some talk was of his intelligence and manners, and the other talk was of his tricks, lazy habits, and ill mannerisms to those who he didn't care for. I just hope that he never get ill with me. I have heard that his picky expectations have caused him to make some servers cry because of a slip up. I doubt he'd say anything that bad, but I would never wish to be on his bad side. Although sometimes a pain, I always wondered what kind of person was hidden behind that handsome face of his.

After I knocked, to my disappointment, his voice summoned my presense. I carefully opened the door and stepped inside, self-conscious of myself in general. The handsome prince lay on his bed, a sight the I had never seen. He was always up and ready to leave me to my duties, if I ever did see him in his chambers. He was typically training, doing his studies, or attending royal events and banquets. Oddly enough, he was in his sleepwear and still in his bed, his hair disheveled. I found myself standing and staring at the unusual sight. He turned and set his green gaze on me. I looked away awkwardly.

"Er, um, good morning your majesty. Didn't expect to see you here.", I said, and regretted it as soon as I said it.

"You didn't expect to find me in my own room?", he asked, the familiar glint of mischief in his green eyes. The corners of his mouth pulled up into a smirk, yet a sadness that I've never seen was evident behind the mischief.

"I meant to say that it's odd to see you in bed so late. Are you unwell? Do I need to get a nurse?", I asked, my boldness haunted me. I hope he didn't find my statement disrespectful. He showed no sign of taking offense, and leaned up in his bed, the blankets falling off of him. His bed was covered in dark green comforters. His chambers were quite large, with a nice view outside his window to match. The color green was spread across the room. I guess he has a thing for green.

"No nurses will be needed, I am not ill this morning.", he replied, seeming bored with the short conversation. His gaze met mine. "But I won't be attending training today. You can make yourself useful and bring me my clothes.", he said, gesturing to the folded clothing on the table across the room. I wondered why he is skipping training today if he's not sick? As I gathered his clothing and brought it to him, I could feel his gaze burn into me. I set his clothing down in his lap, and was about to leave him to get dressed, and do whatever he going to do if not training, but the prince surprised me once again.

"No, wait.", he said from behind me. I did not dare look behind me, but stood there and waited for him to get dressed. Why had he wanted me to stay while he was dressing? If it were anyone else, I would have straight up told them no. This is the longest that I have ever been in the same room with the prince, and quite frankly, the most awkward time. I didn't have long to think about the awkwardness before he asked a question that I didn't think he was capable of asking.

"You know what it feels like to not belong somewhere, don't you? Do you ever wonder what it feels like to be where you belong, Kari?" he asked, and sounded almost weak as he spoke, something I had never heard from him.

He knows my name? I didn't think he would ever care enough to remember a server's name, let alone mine. For a moment, I forgot the difference in status between us and spoke boldly.

"Is that what this is about? You seriously feel like you don't belong here? How could you not belong? You were born into a king's family, raised up like royalty, and yet you try to compare yourself to a Midgardian who got lucky?" I asked, wanting to turn around and see his reaction, but didn't in fear that he was not finished changing. By this, did he mean that he felt unworthy, or was he wanting more than royalty? He always confused me. He didn't answer, so I decided to say something that I thought he needed to hear, whether from me, or someone else.

"Look, you are a prince and that means that you have to make the best of every situation, good, bad, or somewhere in between. I don't know what more to say other than you have to press forward, even if you feel you don't belong. Show whoever it is that makes you feel as if you don't belong that you are worthy of being here, maybe even more worthy than they are. Don't give up because of something that you can't control, even if you absolutely do not belong here. But it seems to me that you do.", my voice softened, "You are an excellent person, Prince Loki.", I said, rather surprised that I would say that much to him. I'm not one to give advice to anyone. I'm more of a "figure it out yourself" type person. Did he matter to me enough for my thoughts to slip out like they just did?

I flinched as his strong hands spun me around and pulled me to his chest, his arms wrapping around me. My breath caught in my throat and his warmth covered me. Should I push him off, should I hug him back? I would have never even imagined him hugging me in a billion years. I slowly wrapped my arms around his shoulders, to comfort him. Maybe all he needs is comfort and that extra push of support.

"Thank you. You were right, giving up is a weak escape.", he whispered into my ear, his warm breath brushing my ear. His grip on me losened, and a part of me wished that it hadn't. He admitted that I was right? If I know Loki, it takes a lot for him to say that someone else is right.

"I expect that you'll be going to your training now?", I said, then realized that it was wrong of me to speak to royalty like that, expectantly of them. The prince seemed to notice too. He let go, and as he was getting armor together for training, he turned and faced me with that familiar smirk.

"And I expect that if you know what's good for yourself, that you will only address me freely when we're alone." with that comment and his armor in place, and his raven hair in fix, he left me in the room alone with the waking sun and his bed to make up.

Maybe the way I spoke to him earlier sparked something in him. I hope so, and it seems now that I'm not on his bad side. Maybe his lazy tendencies will be diminished and he'll pursue the throne. I hope that he becomes king over Thor. I think that he could really rule Asgard better than anyone else has. But if there's one thing I'm certain of, it's that I'd like to see him again tomorrow and the next day, in the hope that I'll get to talk to him. And I'm certain that he'll either do great or horrid things, but he seems to lean toward great things, despite the talk of other servers and of warriors. The thing that stayed on my mind was the fact that he feels as if he doesn't belong here. I still wonder why and I need time to ponder over it. Maybe the time it'll take to scrub the ballroom floor isn't such a burden after all.


End file.
